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Friday, July 19, 2013

A Few Reasonable Yankee Trades

Well gang, 1992 has not been kind to our beloved Yankees. At 42-48, we're headed to our 6th straight season in the lower tier of the AL East. We haven't really been in the hunt in that stretch, and the 1981 pennant was a long time ago.

The path we're on isn't going to get us anywhere. We've got to blow it up and rebuild.

So I suggest these three trades:

1. Don Mattingly to the Brewers for Dave Nilson and Cal EldredYes, he's in the third year of the richest contract in MLB history, but he's not impossible to move. And while he's still a Gold Glover, let's be honest: this version of Donnie is a long way from the MVP we knew.

Nilson is an MLB ready catcher, which isn't an area of need for the Brewers with BJ Surhoff entrenched behind the plate. Nilson was rated the #27 prospect in baseball before this season. Yes, I hear that the AAA ball park in Denver is a real hitters park, so Nilson might not repeat his .317/.369/.479 line at the big league level, but this guy is a catcher who can hit. He can split time with Nokes behind the plate.
Eldred is a big right hander, who was a first round pick only 3 years ago, and if Denver is a hitter's park, it's not slowing Eldred down. He's allowing only 1.16 baserunners per inning and he's got an ERA of 3.00.

Losing Donnie would hurt, but the Yankees are a few years from really contending, and Nilson and Eldred will help more than the Captain.

2. Steve Farr for Kevin YoungThe Pirates look like a great team, but I think they need a little more to win the World Series, and with Bonds, Drabek and Bueschle's contracts all up they are in "win now" mode.

Farr (1.54 ERA and 1.02 baserunners per inning) would instantly be the best arm in their bullpen and would help kill any late rallies.

Young is a great looking third baseman/ first baseman. The knock against him is that as a righty, he couldn't take advantage of Yankee Stadium's short porch. But he and Pat Kelly would be a young right side of the infield for a long time.

3. Prospects for Pedro Martinez
The Yanks have already got #1 prospect in the league Brien Taylor burning up the system, why not go after #10? The Dodgers are in such sorry shape that they need quantity. Offer them Bernie Williams and Carl Everett and see if they want to rebuild their outfield (since the Stawberry rehab tour is going so well in LA). With Hall, Kelly and Tartabull all in long term deals, the Bombers don't need the outfield prospects.

So what do you think of my plan? Do this, and by 1994 we'll be coasting to the pennant and the World Series.